Browns owner Jimmy Haslam, with no ambiguity, upon hiring John Dorsey as general manager on Dec. 7 announced Hue Jackson will return as head coach in 2018.

Presumably, Haslam and Dorsey discussed Jackson’s future during the hiring process. Dorsey must have gone along with the “Jackson stays” plan during those discussions.

The burning question is, “What has Jackson done to earn a third season?” He is 1-29 after losing, 27-10, to the Ravens on Dec. 17 at FirstEnergy Stadium. The Browns fell to 0-7 at home this season (they were the home team against the Vikings in London).

“Let’s just be honest,” Jackson said in his postgame news conference. “It can’t get much worse than what it is. We have to find a way to get on the other side, get on the other side and keep working.”

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Players playing hard and fighting to the end of the game earns a coach a limited number of brownie points. Yes, the Browns fought hard again in the final home game of another dismal season. But they are getting worse as the season progresses. Even though, as Dorsey said, the brain trust led by fired executive Sashi Brown didn’t “get any real players” for Jackson, Jackson has to bear some responsibility for this mess.

The latest rumor has Marvin Lewis retiring as Bengals head coach, moving into the team’s front office and hiring Jackson as head coach.

“Obviously, we all know that Marvin is a close friend. But trust me, I’m not running from this,” Jackson said after the game. “I have never gone any place and left it worse than when I found it.

“Obviously, it’s not as good as when I found it. At that time, that was a 3-13 football team when I signed up. That’s not where we are right now. We are not where we need to be. I see some things that we can build on, but I see some things that we have to really fix as we continue to move forward.”

Dorsey had the chance during a radio interview on WKNR 850-AM last week to guarantee Jackson will be back next season. He would not make that commitment.

“I live in the present and I build for the future,” Dorsey said on Dec. 13. ... We’re getting ready to play the Baltimore Ravens and that’s my sole focus.

“As Bill Parcells would always say, ‘you are your record’ and you know what? There it is, so that’s the truth-teller in this thing. And I’m going to do my darnedest to get Hue players. And that’s all I can ask for, and that’s all I’m going to do. I like the man.”

Dorsey is sending mixed signals, for sure. Would he really hitch his wagon to a coach that could be 1-31 by 4 p.m. Dec. 31? Or at best, 3-29?

A lot of what is wrong with the Browns isn’t Jackson’s fault. He began the season as the only coach in the NFL whose quarterbacks had zero combined wins.

The secondary is so inferior to the receivers it is asked to cover that defensive coordinator Gregg Williams has to use more zone defense than he would prefer. That isn’t Jackson’s fault, either.

Other problems can be blamed on Jackson, starting with questionable clock management throughout the season. He is supposed to be a quarterback whisperer, but rookie quarterback DeShone Kizer — three more turnovers against the Ravens — is making the same mistakes he made early in the season.

Maybe Jackson will be back next season. But despite Haslam’s bold declaration, the final call is Dorsey’s. Dorsey’s future will start to be determined by what happens in 2018, so he should choose his head coach. If he decides that’s Jackson, then he gets to explain why a potential 1-31 coach deserves a third season.